Projectile



Patent ed J an. 20, 1920.

I'll, IIII'IIIIIIII July.

FEW/Z 6:95.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFTCE.

CHARLES NEWTON, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK N. STONE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PROJEGTILE.

Application filed August 24, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Projectiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rifle projectiles or bullets for game shooting and has for its object the production of a bullet for this purpose which will penetrate the atmosphere during flight without undue loss of energy through air resistance and which will expand easily upon impact with the game thus giving good killing power, yet shall not expand unduly when striking thick flesh or bone, thus insuring "good penetration through the thicker heavier portions of the body of the game struck.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the first step in the formation of the rear jacket section forming part of my improved projectile. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the rear jacket section showing the second step of its formation. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section ofthe rear jacket section showing the third step of its formation. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section showing the front and rear jacket and core sections assembled and partly formed. Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 9is a longitudinal section of the completed projectile. Fig. 10 is a front end View of the same.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

It is known to those skilled in the art that game when shot is struck by the bullets at various portions of its anatomy, the point of impact not always being under the absolute control of'the shooter, due to errors in the aim; alsov that the different portions of the animal which may be struck vary in their density and: consequent resistance-to the bullet. The bullet should therefore be so formedthatthe-softer portions. of the game only are struck the bullet will expand suficiently'to produce a paralyzing wound,

yet, it should not expand so freely that when the denser portions are-reachedit 'will, break as so rapidly as totesalt-in asuperficial Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

Serial No. 47,138.

wound without sufficient penetration to reach a vital spot.

Projectiles, as at present made, if sufficiently yielding to expand freely upon strikng soft parts, are apt to break up and lack n1 penetration when the denser, tougher parts are encountered. Conversely, if made sufficiently strong to insure proper penetration when striking the denser parts, they do not expand sufficiently when the softer parts only are struck. Therefore the requirement is for a bullet which will expand sufficiently upon striking the softer portions and yet have its expansion so limited that it will penetrate the denser portions.

It is likewise known to those skilled in the art that when a soft point bullet expands the forward portion of the acket opens outward and turns back over and along the sides of the rear portion of the bullet, continuing this process, if of-sufficient power and meeting with sufficient resistance, until the jacket of the bullet is turned inside out and the leaden core freed from it, Whereupon the core usually goes in pieces and penetration soon stops.

To overcome this difficulty I have designed a bullet which will expand freely to a certain extent, after which expansion ceases and the bullet continues its course as a solid projectile with a blunt point, usually surrounded with jagged portions of the ruptured forward portion of the jacket.

In its general organization this projectile comprises front and rear jacket sections which are connected with each other so that the interior spaces thereof do not, communicate, and front and rear core sections which are arranged respectively within the front and rear jacket sections.

The method of manufacturing this projectile may be varied but the same is preferably made as follows:

A sheet of. metal, preferably copper or other suitable tough material, is drawn or stamped into the fornrof a tubularbody 1 which is closed at its front end by ahead 2 and open at its rear end, as shown in Figs.

' 11and2, thisoperation constituting the first step in the production of. the rear jacket section of the projectile. The front end of this tubular blank isnow upsetrearwardly so asto produce an annular bead 3 projecting laterally from the body and head composed of two plies which are doubled upon each other and which have their outer ends connected while their inner ends are connected respectively with the front end of the body and the margin of the head, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This bead is now turned with reference to the body and head so as to project forwardly therefrom and thereby forming a cylindrical wall the axis of which is co-incident with the axis of the body and producing a pocket or socket 4t on the front side of the head, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. A rear core section 5 of suitable material, such as lead, is now placed into the body of the rear jacket section through the open rear end thereof which core section may be confined against escaping from this body by turning the rear end of the same inwardly to a moderate extent so as to form a rearwardly tapering annular flange 6 which obstructs the opening at the rear end of the body and retains the rear core section therein preliminary to completing the projectile.

The front jacket section is also constructed from a sheet of suitable tough material, such as copper, the first step in its formation being the conversion of a sheet of this metal into the form of a cylindrical tubular body 7 which is closed at its rear end by a transverse head 8 while its front end is open. hile this partially formed front jacket section is in this form its rear end is placed within the pocket or socket of the rear jacket so thatthe head of the front jacket section engages with the head of the rear jacket section, and a front core section 9 is also placed within the front jacket section from the front end of the latter, as shown in Fig. 7. This last mentioned core section is also constructed of soft material, such as lead, which, however, is preferably somewhat softer than the rear core section.

After the several parts of the projectile have been thus preliminarily assembled these parts are subjected to the action of suitable swaging dies or tools so that the rear flange of the rear jacket section is turned into a position in which the same is arranged at right angles to the axis of the projectile and firmly engages the rear end of the rear core section, as shown in Fig. 9. The front parts of the front and rear core sections andjacket sections are also operated upon by suitable swaging or forming devices so that the front end of the rear core section is tapered slightly forwardly and the forwardly projecting bead 3 of the rear jacket section is caused to assume a forwardly tapering conical form so that the pocket within this bead enlarges rearwardly and is of substantially conical form. The operation of thus pressing or swaging the bead of the rear jacket section into forwardly tapering form operates to draw the rear part of the front rseassa jacket section inwardly around the entire circumference thereof together with the rear part of the front core section which is contained therein so that the rear part of the front jacket section enlarges rearwardly and produces a shank 10 which is of conical form together with that part of the front core section inclosed thereby. At the same time the front part of the front jacket section and the front part of the front core section are shaped into forwardly tapering or conical form, these front parts, however, being somewhat larger in diameter than the rear parts of this jacket and core and flush with the tapering front end of the rear jacket section so as to practically form a continuation of the latter. Upon thus swaging the front jacket section and core into the form just described the front core section is caused to project forwardly beyond the front end of the front jacket section which projecting portion is finished off so that the same is flush with and forms a forward continuation of the conical front end of the front jacket section and produces a point 11 at the front end of the projectile.

In this finished state of the projectile the front and rear jacket sections are firmly interlocked with each other by a conical oint but the interior spaces of these jacket sections are separated from each other by the two heads arranged respectively on the op posing ends thereof. The effect of this construction of the projectile is that when the exposed front end of the front core section strikes the soft parts of an animal the front core section will promptly mushroom or spread out into the shape indicated by the dotted lines 12 in Fig. 9, so as to produce a lacerated wound. During this mushrooming eflfect the front jacket section also opened up wide and the bead of the rear jacket section will also be bent laterally more or less. The rear core section, however, will not be subjected to any mushrooming action owing to the fact that the same is completely covered at its front end by the rear jacket section, thereby retaining the rear core section intact and causing the same to continue its flight in a solid or unruptured form and thereby insure penetration of the bones and other hard substances of the animal. upon reaching the same.

By reason of the front end of the rear jacket section being tapered forwardly the bead and the adjacent part of the body of the rear jacket section are not engaged frictionally with the bore of the rifle while being shot but the engagement of the bore of the rifle is confined to the rear part of the rear jacket section which is of full diameter, thereby avoiding any tendency to draw the bead of the rear jacket section outwardly whichv otherwise might open the front jacket section and release the front core section carried thereby.

By this disposition of two separate core sections, the front one of which is comparatively soft and the rear one relatively hard, a free mushrooming effect of the front core section is obtained and also a deep penetration and accuracy of fire. The hard rear core section retains its flat rear surface intact in the gun barrel rendering it impossi ble to deform the rear corner of the projectile and holding the same against tipping as it passes through and emerges from the gun barrel. Leakage of gases past the projectile and fouling of the gun barrel which otherwise would result is by this means avoided.

I claim as my invention:

1. A projectile comprising rear jacket and core sections, and front jacket and core sections connected with said rear jacket and core sections by an interlocking joint which is enlarged rearwardly.

2. A projectile comprising a rear jacket section provided at its front end with a forwardly tapering socket, a front jacket section provided at its rear end with a forwardly tapering shank engaging with said socket, and front and rear core sections arranged within the front and rear jacket sec tions, respectively.

3. A projectile comprising a rear jacket section having a cylindrical body, a transverse head arranged at the front end of the body, and an annular forwardly projecting bead having two plies which are connected at their front ends while their rear ends are connected, respectively with the front end of the body and the margin of the head, a rear core section arranged in the rear jacket, a front jacket section arranged at its rear end within said bead, and a front core section arranged within the front jacket section.

f. A projectile comprising a rear jacket section having a cylindrical body, a transverse head arranged at the front end of the body, an annular forwardly projecting bead having two plies which are connected at their front ends while their rear ends are connected, respectively with the front end of the body and the margin of the head, and an inwardly projecting flange at the rear end of the body, a rear core section arranged within the rear jacket section, a front jacket section arranged at its rear end within said bead, and a front core section arranged within said front acket section.

5. A projectile comprising a rear jacket section having a cylindrical body, a transverse head arranged at the front end of the body, and an annular forwardly projecting bead having two plies which are connected at their front ends while their rear ends are connected, respectively with the front end of the body and the margin of the head, a rear core section arranged in the rear jacket, a front jacket section arranged at its rear end within said head, and a front core section having its rear part arranged within said bead and its front end projecting beyond said front jacket section.

6. A projectile comprising a rear jacket section having a cylindrical body, a transverse head at the front end of the body, a forwardly tapering bead connecting the body and head and forming a rearwardly enlarging conical socket, and an inwardly projecting flange arranged at the rear end of the body, a rear core section arranged within the rear jacket section, a front jacket section having a body which has its front end open and its front part tapering forwardly while its rear part is of rearwardly enlarging conical form and arranged in the forwardly tapering socket of the rear jacket section and the body of said front jacket section having a transverse head at its rear end which engages with the front head of the rear jacket section, and a front core section which is arranged with its rear part within the front jacket section and is of corresponding form while its front end is pointed and projects forwardly beyond the front end of the front jacket section.

CHARLES NEWTON. 

